No hike in tariffs in city for next 2 years, says RInfra

Mumbai: In what may be seen as a relief to its 29 lakh suburban consumers in the megapolis, Reliance Infrastructure has decided not to increase the tariffs for its residential customers for the next two years.

To attract high-end residential consumers, consuming over 300 units per month, the company plans to reduce their tariff by up to 12 percent for the two years.

In its petition before the state electricity regulator (Merc) for approval of multi-year tariff for five years till March 2016, RInfra has proposed zero increase in tariff for residential customers consuming electricity up to 500 units for FY'14 and FY'15.

The company is currently collecting tariff at the rate of Rs 3.50 per unit for consumers consuming electricity up to 100 units and Rs 6.57 for those consuming up to 300 units.

"Contrary to the trends of distribution companies in Mumbai seeking tariff hike, there is either no hike or reduction in tariffs proposed," RInfra said adding its efficient power procurement strategy would enable it to achieve the target.

"This is owing to the efficient power procurement resulting into the lower power procurement cost; thus consumers benefiting out of it," it said.

However, these consumers are likely to get a tariff shock in FY16 as the company has proposed a 6.9 percent increase in tariffs to Rs 3.74 per unit from Rs 3.50 for residential consumers consuming up to 100 units per month.

Similarly, for those consuming up to 300 units, the company has proposed a 4 percent increase in tariff for FY16 to Rs 6.83 per unit against the current rate of Rs 6.57. For residential customers consuming electricity up to 500 units, RInfra has proposed a reduction of 3 percent in tariff for FY14 to Rs 10.51 per unit and 12 percent for FY15 to Rs 9.25 from the current Rs 10.83.

RInfra has proposed a reduction in tariff by 2.5 percent for those consumig above 500 units per month to Rs 12.23 per unit from the current Rs 12.54 for FY14 and Rs 11.01, a reduction of 10 percent for FY15.However, for both the categories, the company has not proposed any increase in tariff for FY16.

For the December quarter, RInfra reported a 78 percent jump in consolidated net profit at Rs 728 crore helped by an exceptional gain of Rs 418.34 crore. The company had reported a net profit of Rs 408 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal.

On a standalone basis, the net profit during the quarter grew by 58.57 percent to Rs 659.37 crore as compared to Rs 415.82 crore in the year-ago period.